VLADIMIR PUTIN VS INTERVENTIONISM

We are all the more worried when we see attempts by some actors in international relations to maintain their traditional influence, often by resorting to unilateral action that runs counter to the principles of international law. We see evidence of this in so-called ‘humanitarian operations’, the export of bomb and missile diplomacy, and intervention in internal conflicts.

We see how contradictory and unbalanced the reform process is in North Africa and the Middle East, and I am sure that many of you still have the tragic events in Libya before your eyes. We cannot allow a repeat of such scenarios in other countries, in Syria, for example. I believe that we must do everything possible to press the parties in this conflict into negotiating a peaceful political solution to all issues of dispute. We must do all we can to facilitate such a dialogue. Of course this is a more complex and subtle undertaking than intervention using brute force from outside, but only this process can guarantee a lasting settlement and future stable development in the region, and in Syria’s case, in the country itself.

Collective effort with the emphasis on peaceful negotiations and the search for compromise solutions should become the imperative in general in international life today. This applies to all of the world’s sore points, including the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes, Afghanistan, and other regional and sub-regional problems.

Over the upcoming years, Russia will host summits of some of the world’s biggest multilateral organisations and forums, such as APEC, the G20 and G8, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and BRICS. Russia’s presidency of these groups and forums will give us not only the chance to boost Russia’s influence on the international stage, but also to be more energetic in promoting the indisputable priority of political and diplomatic means of resolving the various serious problems in the world.

We continue to stand firm by the principles of the United Nations Charter as the foundations of the modern world order, and will do all we can to ensure that everyone respects the principle whereby in cases where outside intervention is necessary, only the UN Security Council has the power to make such decisions. Adding unilateral sanctions to such decisions is counterproductive in effect.